Natanya and Scappa
by sapphireheart22
Summary: Natanya and Scappa are two girls who have been out of school for a year because they've been in the hospital. Natanya is fighting a deadly tumor in her throat and Scappa is blind and has no immune system. What happens when Ouran gives them a scholarship?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all. This is my first fanfic ever, so please be nice! No flames about Natanya and Scappa. Be NICE.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club, or its characters. **

Natanya and I were sitting on my hospital bed. That was where we were on most days around three o'clock in the afternoon, when our friends were getting out of school. We were playing three-and-thirteen—okay, well, we were _trying_ to play three-and-thirteen. Natanya was looking at my cards and telling me what they were, since I couldn't actually see them. That was just one of the disadvantages of being blind: You just sucked at card games. I couldn't even play Go Fish.

I heard Natanya sigh. Being blind, I have an uncanny sense of hearing. I can hear a cockroach walking across tinfoil on the other side of the room. "What's wrong?" I asked, setting down my cards. I leaned back against my pillows and rubbed my face.

"This is so boring," Natanya whined. Her voice was coarse and scratchy—she had a malignant tumor in her throat. "We've been playing card games for the last half hour, and neither of us can figure out how to win."

"You do realize that you can cheat, right?" I asked, closing my eyes. I yawned so widely that I could hear the tendons in my jaw pop. "Since I can't see the cards, you know."

"You aren't as blind as you think you are," Natanya said. From the sound of her voice, I figured that she was pouting.

Suddenly, I sat bolt upright. Someone was coming. A lot of people, actually. I could hear them coming down the hall noisily—as many as seven pairs of unfamiliar footsteps, as well as the familiar sound of Nurse Tamagachi's softly clicking high heels. "Someone's coming," I hissed. I could feel my eyes widening with excitement.

"Who?" Natanya was trembling with excitement as she grabbed my hand. "Who is it?"

"Nurse Tamagachi and seven other people," I said. "They're heading straight for us!"

As soon as Nurse Tamagachi and the strangers entered the room, Natanya let out a loud squeal. "Nurse Tamagachi, who are they?" she asked. Her voice sounded peppy and excited.

I heard an unfamiliar pair of footsteps walking swiftly over to my bed. I heard the person's weight shift and heard a male's voice say, "We are the Host Club, my fair princess. Might I ask your name?"

I heard Natanya giggle and say, "Natanya Smith. What about you?"

"Ah, Natanya," the guy said. He sounded just a little bit older than us, probably a year's difference. "A beautiful name for an equally beautiful princess. My name is Tamaki Suouh. And who might you be?" I felt the Tamaki person grab my hand, and then I felt a pair of cool lips brush against the back of my hand.

I wrestled my hand away from him. "My name is Scappa," I said, forcing a smile. This dude really gave me the creeps. "It's nice to meet you, Tamaki."

"So what are they doing here?" Natanya asked in excitement. She was practically bouncing up and down, making the sheets rustle noisily.

"Tamaki-san and his friends have come to offer a scholarship to two children in the hospital. I told them about you two, and how you've both been out of school for a year. They thought that giving you both the scholarships to Ouran would be a terrific idea." Nurse Tamagachi said all of this with a suspiciously familiar air of finality. It was the same tone she used when she told me that I couldn't stay away from the other children in the hospital just because they made fun of my blindness. I had a feeling that this whole scholarship thing had been decided for us.

Natanya didn't care, though. She was just excited about finally being able to go to a real school.

The Next Day…

"I really think that you two should wear the uniforms," Nurse Tamagachi fretted. She was pulling a brush through my thick blonde hair, trying to tame it for our first day at school. We were sitting in me and Natanya's hospital room. Natanya had told me that I was wearing a sapphire blue long-sleeved t-shirt and a matching blue plaid skirt. She also told me that she was wearing the same outfit, just in ruby red.

"Not happening," Natanya said from somewhere near the bathroom. "That uniform was hideous. I'm not going to make me and Scappa look like complete and total fools on our first day of school. We're going to save that for next semester."

I grinned. It had taken a little while, but I was finally excited about going back to school. I heard Tamaki's footsteps before he was halfway down the hallway, along with his friends, who hadn't been introduced yesterday. "Tamaki is here," I said quietly. I heard Natanya yank open the door and call, "Hurry up!" to them as they walked towards our room.

"Ah, Natanya, you look as lovely as a rose in bloom," I heard Tamaki say. Natanya giggled. She liked this Tamaki fellow, odd as it seemed to me. "And Scappa, you look as graceful as the ocean waves," Tamaki said, addressing me now. I turned my head towards him and stuck out my tongue.

Natanya giggled even harder. "We should probably get going," she said. I heard her pick up her backpack as I stood up. She handed me mine and we headed out into the parking lot. It was cold outside. I was holding onto Natanya's sleeve as we walked. After a minute or two she gasped. "Oh, my God," she practically shrieked. I stopped walking and let go of her sleeve to cover my throbbing ears. "Scappa, they ride in a limousine! A real limo, can you believe it?"

I could feel a pair of eyes watching me curiously. I turned my head towards whoever was staring at me and raised my eyebrows. "Which way is the car?" I asked in a whisper, tentatively holding out one of my hands. A moment later I felt a warm hand grasp my wrist and someone pulled me over to the car. I got in, bumping my head as I did so.

"Ouch," I mumbled, rubbing my forehead where I'd hit it.

I heard the others getting into the car and then I felt two arms being thrown around my shoulders. "Having fun?" I heard two teasing voices say in unison. One was slightly higher than the other.

"What in the world gives off the impression that I want to be touched by you two?" I asked curiously, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back in my seat, raising my eyebrows. "I mean, I certainly haven't told you that you could touch me. So, why are you touching me?"

"Um, there's just one thing that you need to know about Scappa," I heard Natanya say. "If she doesn't know you, she generally doesn't let you touch her. It kind of freaks her out."

"Just a little bit," I muttered, shrugging the arms off of my shoulders. "So, who are the idiots that I'm trapped in between?"

"I am Hikaru Hitachiin," the lower voice said. It was coming from my left side.

"And I am Kaoru Hitachiin," the slightly higher voice said.

"And we are the Hitachiin twins!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Twins?" I asked. "As in, identical twins? That's cool."

"Hi, Scapp-chan!" I heard a little boy voice exclaim. "My name is Hunny! And the boy who helped you into the car is called Mori. He doesn't talk much, though, so you probably can't hear him."

That wasn't true. I could hear a steady set of breathing somewhere to my left. It was more even than anyone else's. I figured that he was Mori, but I didn't say anything.

"Hello, Scappa," I heard a soft, female voice say from somewhere to my right. "My name is Haruhi Fujioka. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too, Haruhi," I said politely. "How come everyone else is a guy in here, and you're a girl? Are you dating someone?"

All around me, I heard silence. I could feel Natanya's surprise from where she was sitting. Then I felt the car give a frightening lurch of speed, jerking me out of my seat and sending me sprawling to the floor. I banged my head. Terrific. I hadn't even known these people for an hour and they already didn't like me.


	2. Mori's New Friend

Mori's POV

Scappa was still on the floor, where she was thrown when the car lurched. She was on her hands and knees, staring angrily at the air in front of her face. "Hey, what's the big idea?" she pouted. "Are you trying to kill me?"

Natanya sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder," she muttered, pulling Scappa into the seat beside her.

Scappa swatted her arm. "I heard that, Natanya," she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. "And don't think that my being blind means that I'm not strong enough to toss you. Remember last time?"

Natanya shuddered as I raised my eyebrows. I wondered what had happened last time. "You shouldn't be so mean to people, Scappa," she said, tucking her hair behind her ears. "It isn't my fault that you can't see."

"Yeah, well, sometimes I wonder," Scappa replied.

"And what in the world makes you think that Haruhi is a girl?" Natanya demanded, glancing at Haruhi. "She looks 100% boy to me."

"You shouldn't doubt me so much, Natanya," Scappa smirked, leaning back in her seat. "It isn't my fault that your ears are so dull. I'd be willing to bet that you couldn't hear me whisper if I wasn't right next to your ear."

"Oh, just tell me," Natanya said. Her voice and expression were very cross. "Don't just hold me in suspense like this."

"You know, I don't really want to tell you how I know," Scappa said nonchalantly, closing her eyes. "This is one of the few times that I can hold you in suspense like this. And it's just so much fun to watch you squirm." Scappa grinned like Hikaru did when he was teasing Tamaki.

"You're mean," Natanya accused her, poking her in the side indignantly.

"Being mean is better than being stupid," Scappa laughed. She turned her head towards Kyouya. "Isn't that right Kyouya-senpai?"

Everyone in the car laughed. Except for me. Scappa noticed that and muttered, "Don't laugh too hard, Smiley." Then she turned her head towards me and grinned. I smiled, even though she couldn't see me. Her brow creased. "C'mon, that was a joke," she said, poking my knee. "Can't you just give me a chuckle? One little laugh?"

"Oh, he's smiling," Natanya assured her. Then she looked at me and whispered, "Sometimes when you don't say anything, you have to let her feel your face so that she can feel your smile."

"I'll tell you one more time: I CAN HEAR YOU!" Scappa said crossly, smacking me and Natanya both on the leg. I wondered how she'd known where mine was.

It didn't hurt me; I just kept on smiling. This girl was really funny. I glanced at Hunny, and found that he was looking at me happily. I was puzzled, until I felt the smile still on my face. We had arrived at the school by then, and we all piled out. Scappa latched onto the first shirt she could find, which was—surprisingly—mine. She grinned up at me. "Hey, Smiley," she said. "What's up?"

"Not much…" I said hesitantly. "Um, Natanya is over to the left a little."

Scappa nodded. "I know," she said nonchalantly. "The chairman called us last night and said that, academically, I'm a grade higher than Natanya. He told me that I should just follow you around for today."

"Okay," I said. This was either going to really fun…or really awkward.


	3. First Day

Ch. 3

I held onto the back of Mori's shirt as we walked to our classroom. Hunny was on his shoulders, chatting animatedly about which types of cakes he liked. I could feel Mori glancing back at me every so often, probably wondering how I was able too keep up with him so easily. I smirked. When you shared a hospital room with someone like Natanya, you had to be fast if you didn't want to be left behind when she thought up one of her crazy schemes.

Like the time that she thought we could break into the nurses' station without getting caught. When the security guard had found us, we'd had to run like greyhounds up two flights of stairs to get back to our bedroom. Now _that_ was fun.

When we walked into the room, I could feel almost everyone staring at me. Hunny gave the teacher all of my information and she told Mori to take me to the seat next to his. We walked almost all the way to the back of the room before Mori told me that I could sit down. I sat cautiously, feeling the seat before I did so. "Thanks, Smiley," I said when I heard him take his seat next to me. He was right between Hunny and I.

I sat very still during class, listening to all of the sounds around me, making a mental map in my head of where I was. I made out that I was sitting next to the window since I couldn't hear any sound to the left of me. After about an hour, the chairman brought in a set of Braille books for me. I sat there, moving my index finger across the bumps on the page, staring straight ahead as the teacher lectured the class on water displacement.

Mori's POV

I glanced at Scappa again. She was staring straight ahead, moving her finger slowly across the page of her book. Her expression was unreadable—or at least very bored. I glanced at Hunny. He was watching me with a big grin on his face. When he saw me looking at him, he bent over his book, trying not to laugh. What was going on with him? Every time he looked at Scappa and me, he started grinning and humming.

I shook my head, turning back to the teacher. She was still lecturing about water displacement. I glanced back at Scappa. She was sneakily writing something on her piece of paper. She shoved it towards me and smiled at the teacher. I glanced at the piece of paper. "How's it going, Smiley?" it said in tight, controlled script.

Scappa was looking at me now. She raised her eyebrows when I looked at her—how she knew I was looking, I have no idea—and shrugged her shoulders. She turned back to the teacher, who was staring at us suspiciously. Scappa smiled and rested her chin in her palm, staring forward with an angelic expression on her face.

When the bell rang for lunch, Scappa stood up and pinched a scrap of the back of my shirt between her fingers as we headed for the cafeteria. I could see most of the girls in the room glaring at her, so I narrowed my eyes at them—just a bit—before we left the classroom. Once we were in the lunchroom with our food, Scappa turned to me and said, "Smiley, I really don't think that your girlfriends like me very much."

"Takashi doesn't have a girlfriend," Hunny said quickly, glancing at me with a grin.

"That's…interesting," Scappa said, looking confused. "But…If you don't have a girlfriend, what's up with all the glary-angry-creepy girls?"

"Why do you think that they were glaring at you, Scapp-chan?" Hunny asked, shoveling cake into his mouth at the same time.

Scappa shrugged. "I don't know," she said, glancing at where I was sitting. "All these girls just give me a really bad feeling. It's like they're stalking me, waiting for me to mess up." Scappa didn't say this nervously. She sounded thoughtful about it, as though she was wondering about what she could do to change the fact that most of the girls in the school hated her.

Hunny and I glanced at each other. Scappa really was strange, in a good way. I cleared my throat. "Why are you in the hospital?" I asked. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with her except for her blindness.

Scappa grinned. "Hey, so Smiley _can_ talk!" she exclaimed, resting her chin on her palm. "But, seriously? I basically have no immune system. Even an ear infection can put me in the ICU." Suddenly, she cocked her head to the left and grinned.

"What are you doing, Scapp-chan?" Hunny asked, stopping his cake-eating to stare at her curiously.

"Listening to the gossip," Scappa chortled, jerking her thumb at the table behind ours. It was filled with guys. "Apparently, Natanya and I are dude magnets!" She pumped her fist in the air like a hyper cheerleader with a smile. "Just wait until Natanya gets wind of this."

"What'll happen?" I asked, curious.

Scappa grinned once again. That seemed to be her immediate reaction whenever I spoke. "Oh, not much," she said, leaning back in her seat. "She'll only flirt with them to no end until she knows which one she wants to date. Then she'll go after that particular guy like a bloodhound, and she won't stop until he agrees to date her. It never takes very long. It's like a little game, actually."

"She sounds like Hikaru," Hunny said as we were walking back to class. "Does she play…games often?"

"She plays them at the hospital, she plays them at the supermarket, and I'm sure that she'll play them here," Scappa replied, pinching the fabric of my jacket between her fingers again. "Why? What does Hikaru do?"

Hunny shrugged. "Pretty much the exact same thing," he said, bouncing ahead of us. "Kaoru usually helps him. Do you help Natanya?"

"Every day," Scappa said as we took our seats. One of the girls tripped on her way to her seat behind Scappa and fell, scattering books and papers around everywhere. Scappa slid out of her seat and helped gather them up.

"I-I'm so sorry," the girl stammered, bending down to help Scappa. "I really didn't mean to—"

Scappa held up a hand to stop her. "No problem," she said, smiling gently. "It takes skill to trip over flat surfaces; I should know. I practice every day."

"Are you serious?" the girl asked, raising her eyebrows.

"No, but I hope that you're still not embarrassed," Scappa said sheepishly. "I thought it would make you feel better if I made fun of myself. It seems to work with everyone else. Especially Natanya. Do you know her?"

The girl shook her head. "No, I don't," she said. "Is she very nice?"

Scappa pursed her lips. "Describe nice for me," she said uncertainly, handing the girl her last book.

The girl laughed and sat down just as the teacher walked into the room. I glanced at Scappa. She had a mischievous smile on her face. I knew that smile. It was the same smile that the twins used when they were about to play some big practical joke. What was Scappa up to?


	4. Test the Theory

Ch. 4

After school, Hunny and Mori invited me to their club. They said that Natanya would probably be there since she had class with Haruhi and the twins. Well, Hunny told me and Mori—well, you know Mori.

I couldn't wait to see Natanya. I had a major sneaky-sneak plan cooking up in my head; a practical joke that Natanya would see as "pure dead brilliant", a term that she had made up after we realized that neither of us thought that "drop dead brilliant" was such a pretty phrase.

I held on to the back of Mori's shirt as we walked, thinking of what Hunny had said at lunch. "She sounds like Hikaru," he had said when she'd told him about Natanya and her tricks. I'm guessing that that meant that Hikaru was a real trickster. Natanya and I were about to find out if that was true.

I could feel Mori glancing anxiously at me as we walked, and I could tell that he knew that I was up to something. I smirked with amusement. There was simply no way that I was telling him about my plan. He would only try to stop me, and I really didn't want that.

Hunny was bouncing ahead, chattering noisily about the club that they belonged to. I think that he called it a "Host Club". I was puzzled until we reached the club room and Natanya ran over to me, out of breath and obviously on Cloud 9. "This club entertains girls!" she squealed, roughly dragging her over to a velvet couch. I banged my shin on a table and cursed. I could already feel a bruise forming.

I sat down heavily on the couch and rubbed my leg where it was sore. "They do what?" I asked, slightly confused. How could they entertain girls? Did they do gymnastic tricks for them?

"Yeah," Natanya said excitedly. "Basically, all this club does is flirt with girls for an entire two hours. That Kyouya dude said that they can actually make money off of this kind of thing. Can you believe it? Getting paid to flirt? I'm in heaven!"

I tugged on her sleeve and whispered, "I hear that Hikaru and Kaoru are real tricksters. Wanna test that theory?"

Natanya chuckled slowly. It was the kind of laugh that she had whenever she knew that something criminal was on its way. "What did you have in mind?" she asked quietly as girls started to stream into the room.

I leaned forward and whispered the one word that I knew she loved most in the world: "Sabotage." Natanya pumped her fist into the air. "I'm thinking a little dirt in their drinks, some glue on their cups, and just a couple of 'incidents' should make them suspicious enough. Then we just have to be at the right place at the right time."

"Haruhi, make us some tea!" Tamaki called from the other side of the room. As Haruhi passed the place where they were sitting, Natanya and I leapt to our feet.

"We'll get it, Haruhi," Natanya said, and I was pretty sure that she was flashing Haruhi her most dazzling grin. "We've wanted to explore the club room since we got here."

I nodded with fake enthusiasm, pasting on my fakest cheesy grin. "O…kay," Haruhi said hesitantly. "The kitchen is over that way."

Natanya grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the kitchen, letting go abruptly when we reached the kitchen. I narrowed my eyes—which Natanya told me were the brightest emerald green on the planet—and stuck my tongue out at the spot where I could hear her breathing. She sighed gustily and started pulling teacups down from the cabinets as I pulled a tube of super glue out of my pocket. As Natanya poured the tea, I carefully squeezed out a little super glue onto two of the cups' handles. I heard Natanya sprinkle something heavy into the same two cups and stir it hurriedly.

She placed the teacups onto a tray and walked out of the kitchen, ready to serve. I walked over to where the twins were sitting and took a seat on the floor next to the couch where they were sitting. I felt one of them peering down at me curiously before his brother pulled him away.

"Here's your tea, boys," Natanya singsonged as she stood in front of the twins. She set the tray down in front of them with a noisy clatter.

"Thanks, Natanya," they said in unison. I heard them pick up the cups, take a drink and abruptly spit out the contents. I made myself look confused. Natanya had already walked off towards Haruhi, already forgetting about our prank.

"What's wrong?" I made myself ask, pretending to be curious and hurt at the same time. "Don't you like the tea? I made it myself," I added, making my voice sound just a bit proud.

"It tastes like dirt," Hikaru complained.

In a gentler voice, Kaoru asked, "Scappa, what did you put in this tea?"

"The tea sitting next to the stove; you know, the one in the container below the potted plant," I said, tilting my head to the side. I made my expression even more confused than before. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Um, you might have accidentally put dirt in as the tea," Kaoru said awkwardly. I made myself look embarrassed, and I ducked my head.

"Oops," I offered. It sounded like a question.

"That's okay," Kaoru said, setting his cup down on the table. He tried to pull his hand away from it, but he couldn't. Hikaru tried doing the same thing, and then I felt the both of them staring down at me.

I grinned up at them, letting my true expression show. I was trying hard not to laugh as I scrambled to my feet and said, "Gotcha!" I ran for the door with Natanya hot on my heels. I jerked it open and shot through, followed by Natanya and a seething pair of twins.

That was when Hikaru and Kaoru's day really went downhill.


	5. Hurts Like Cactus Needles

Natanya and I ran like greyhounds, with the twins far behind us. Just because we spent our days lying in hospital beds didn't mean that we weren't fit enough to outrun two raging mad twins. I was just slightly behind Natanya. I might have been able to hear almost everything, but it didn't change the fact that I had no idea where I was going.

"Faster, faster, faster, faster!" I nearly shouted, sprinting down the halls like a madwoman, expertly dodging what few students were still at the school. I felt the tip of my shoe touch Natanya's heel. She put on more speed. She knew that I would gladly run her over if I didn't think that she was moving fast enough.

We ran down the stairs, and behind us, I heard one of the twins trip and fall. I heard a sound like a head cracking against cement, and I winced. I had thought that they would've known Ouran better than Natanya did, but, then again, she had grown up in a hospital; it was second nature for her to memorize routes that would be the best escape routes to hide from a bunch of angry nurses or patients. (It was first nature for her to piss off a bunch of people all at once and then get herself out of trouble by batting her eyelashes and pretending to be scared. Only a very few people were resistant to her charms. Yet I get in trouble all the time because of her antics. I sense a distinct malice in the makeup of the universe, don't you?)

The other twin slowed down to help his brother, and by then we were in the foyer of the school, and the twins were just at the top of the stairs. "Where's a wheelchair when you need one?" Natanya shouted to me. I grinned. One of our earliest pranks was to hijack a motorized wheelchair and try to do wheelies with it—before we crashed into a wall at lightning speed. I believe that I was stuck in bed for a week after that, due to infections in the many, many cuts that I had, while Natanya was bouncing around for hours at a time.

"I think the twins need it more than we do!" I shouted back, just as Natanya shoved open the door. We were out in the open air. Even if it was murky and infectious city air. Still sprinting, we ducked into a store just across the street from Ouran. That was the only time we slowed down, because the store manager threatened to throw us out. It was a floral shop, and we could go into the greenhouse to hide out. Hopefully they wouldn't find us.

No such luck. As soon as we settled down behind a huge stand of heather, the twins burst into the greenhouse, along with the rest of the Host Club. "I swear that they're here!" I heard Hikaru say indignantly when one of them turned back to the door.

"Doubt it," I heard Kyouya mutter under his breath. Natanya clapped a hand over her mouth, stifling a squeak. She had just pushed her hand into a cactus. (Did I say that the twins' day went downhill? I'm sorry, I meant Natanya's day. My bad.)

She pushed her hand towards me. "Get the needles out," she hissed frantically. "Get the needles out!"

I grabbed her hand and plucked the first needle out of her hand. She gasped loudly, tearing her hand away from me. She had rolled up her sleeves, and guess what her bare arm hit? If you guessed another cactus, you would be correct. This time the squeal was too loud to contain. The Host Club found us so quickly that I wouldn't doubt if they had a bloodhound helping them.

Natanya immediately scrambled to her feet. I followed a lot more calmly; just as Hikaru leapt at us. Someone pulled him back by his shirt, and I'm guessing that it was Mori. I turned to Tamaki. "Do you know where we can by leg wax to wax the cactus needles out of Natanya's arm?" I asked, listening closely as Natanya groaned. The next two hours were gonna be fun.


	6. De ja vu

**Okay, I'm terribly sorry for the late updates, but my computer kept erasing what I'd written, so this is what I'****ve got. SO sorry. Please R&R! No flames!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club. But I wish I did.**

Mori's POV

It took roughly five minutes to drive to the hospital to get the cactus needles removed from Natanya's arm. She groaned all the way there, with Scappa plucking the larger needles out in the car. A small trickle of blood followed each needle, but Scappa didn't seem that concerned. In fact, she was smiling like there was nothing wrong. She didn't seem to grasp the fact that her best friend's arm looked like Swiss cheese. I nearly hit myself. _Of course she doesn't care that Natanya's arm looks like Swiss cheese_, I told myself furiously. _She's blind!_

Scappa turned towards me with her eyebrows raised. "Is something wrong, Mori?" she asked, yanking a particularly large needle out of Natanya's arm. Natanya yelped, and then she groaned and slumped against the seat.

"No," I said. Hunny tugged on my sleeve.

"We're at the hospital," he declared cheerfully, jumping out of the car almost before it stopped. When I stepped out, I stared at him. He grinned at me nonchalantly before skipping to the hospital entrance. Natanya and Scappa's nurse was standing there, looking extremely worried. When she saw Scappa, her brow furrowed.

"I've been waiting for you two to get here for hours!" she exclaimed, hurrying forward to meet them. Then she spotted Natanya's arm. For a moment, she just stared, then she roughly pushed everyone aside and grabbed Natanya's arm. "Tanya, what happened to you?" she demanded. Her gaze landed on Scappa. "What happened to her?" she demanded again.

"We were hiding, and she stuck her arm in a cactus," Scappa said cheerfully. Natanya's uninjured arm flashed out and she smacked Scappa on the back of her head.

"_You_ should have warned me that it was there," she snapped.

Scappa's eyes flared with anger. "How was I supposed to know you were sitting next to a cactus?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, _I_ sure knew about it, once I stuck my arm through it!" Natanya glared at Scappa. It didn't seem to effect her that much. She just rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. "_What_?" Natanya shouted.

"I said, 'Quit acting like such a baby'!" Scappa yelled back, crossing her arms over her chest. The wind was blowing her hair around her head, and some strands got into her mouth when she tried to speak. Kaoru snickered, and Scappa whirled to face him. "Do you _seriously_ think this is funny?" she demanded. Her sightless eyes were narrowed dangerously.

"Nope, not at all," he squeaked. He actually _squeaked_. She was that frightening. Kyouya chuckled.

"I can't wait to see how this plays out," he murmured, scribbling in his little black book.

Scappa's POV

"I can't wait to see how this plays out," I heard Kyouya say. Then I heard his pen moving across the pages in his annoying book. I gritted my teeth. The twins and Tamaki could be taken care of by glowering and yelling. But Kyouya was made of sterner stuff than them. As far as I could tell, the only emotions he felt were irritation and impatience. He didn't have a funny bone in his body.

I turned towards him and stuck my tongue out. There was a beat of silence. Then I heard Tamaki ask, "Did she just do that?" His voice sounded high-pitched.

"I…I think she did," Haruhi said, sounding stunned. There was another beat of silence.

I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked a hip. "What's the big deal?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "He isn't any scarier than Smiley is, and Smiley isn't really all that scary." Mori grunted, and I grinned. "To be honest, Hunny scares me more," I added. Hunny immediately threw his arms around my waist. I turned my head so that my face was facing Mori again. "No offense, Smiley." He grunted again.

"You don't get it," Tamaki said hurriedly. "Kyouya is the Prince of Darkness. He can kill you just by looking at you!"

"Then why aren't you dead yet?" I snapped at him. It worked; his mouth snapped shut with an audible click. The twins snickered. "Shut up," I told them. "You two aren't exactly angels yourselves."

"Scappa, that's rude," Nurse Tamagachi exclaimed in horror.

"So?" Natanya asked her. "Scappa doesn't give a rat's furry ass about being rude. At least, not when she's talking to Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki." I nodded stiffly, right before I heard Natanya yelp.

"Wow, girl, you put chihuahuas to shame," I said in amazement. I absolutely _hated_ those tiny little rat bastards.

"Wh-why'd you hit me?" Natanya whimpered.

"While you stay in my hospital, you will not cuss," Nurse Tamagachi said firmly, "especially when you're talking about your closest friend."

"She cusses me out," Natanya defended herself. I grinned.

"Yeah, but, Natanya, I don't cuss in front of the staff," I told her. "That's why you get smacked so much." The hospital staff knew us so well that they thought of us as their own children, and they treated us like their own children. That meant that they even whupped our asses if we did something wrong.

"Oh, now you tell me," Natanya snapped. Nurse Tamagachi ushered her inside. Two hours later, we were sitting on my hospital bed, playing three and thirteen. The Host Club had left, and we were utterly bored. Suddenly, I sat up and started blinking rapidly. "What's wrong, Scappa?"

"De ja vu," I replied. I heard Natanya sigh.

"Yeah, that happens a lot in this hospital," she said wistfully. "We just can't seem to help it."


	7. Scappa's Protector

Scappa's POV

Whoo! Second day of school. I was so happy that I could just randomly start dancing, which I almost did. Yesterday, the doctors had told me that I might not be able to go to school the next day, in case the enviornment had done any major damage to my immune system—what was left of it, anyways. But I wasn't sick, so I was allowed to go! I was only a little shaky, but I wasn't about to tell any of the hospital staff about that. Heck, I wasn't even going to tell Natanya about that.

I buttoned up my shirt (I'm blind, not useless) while Natanya chattered on and on about some guy named Shiro. I rolled my eyes. If I knew Natanya—and I did—she would date Shiro for a week and then throw him away like a smashed toy. Hey, I'm not mean; it's just that its always happened before. She's never kept a guy for more than a week and a half.

I heard footsteps in the hallway. "Here comes the Host Club," I told Natanya. I heard her run to the door and open it as I smoothed down my hair. Earlier that morning, Natanya had told me that I looked, and I quote, "like a dissheveled porcupine". I would've hit her if her arm wasn't all bandaged up from the cactus needles.

"Hey, Tamaki!" she called down the hallway. Her voice was still scratchy, but it was starting to sound better; slightly. I winced as I moved my arms back to my sides. We'd both had to get an IV after school for our normal medicines. Nurse Aomi had simply jabbed the needle into our arms; that was why we didn't like her.

The Host Club traipsed into our hospital room a moment later. I could hear the feather-light footsteps of Hunny running across the room, with the slower, heavier footsteps of Mori right behind him. Hunny slammed into my side, and I winced slightly, stumbling back a step. I felt Mori's hand between my shoulder blades, steadying me, and I grinned up at him. "Hey, Smiles," I greeted. I turned my head back to Hunny. "Hey, Tiny," I added.

"Ready for school?" Hunny chirped.

I nodded. "All set," I said. I looked up at Mori again, grinning. "What about you, Smiley?" I asked.

"Hn," Mori replied. He sounded amused. I wondered why…

Mori's POV

Scappa's hair was sticking up all over the place. It was very funny. I could see Hikaru and Kaoru trying not to laugh as they looked at her. Apparently, Natanya noticed too, because she reached over and smacked them in the back of their heads angrily. "Don't make fun of Scappa," she pouted.

Scappa's head turned slowly to face Natanya. "Why would they be making fun of me?" she asked slowly.

"Well…remember what I told you about looking like a porcupine?" Natanya fidgeted. "Well, it's sort of gotten worse."

Scappa's hands clamped down on the top of her head. She glowered in the direction of Hikaru and Kaoru, who were, once again, stifling laughter. "It isn't funny," she growled, stomping out of the room with her hands still clamped over her hair. As soon as she went into the hallway, the twins started howling with laughter.

"I don't think you two should have laughed at Scappa-sempai," Haruhi scolded, fists planted on her hips.

"It's not our fault she looked like a hedgehog," Hikaru chortled. Kaoru nodded in agreement, his hand over his mouth.

Natanya scowled. "If you two don't quit laughing," she threatened, "I'm gonna knock your teeth down your throats. Let's see how well you guys host then." With that said and done, she turned on her heel and ran to get Scappa.

Haruhi watched her go, and then she turned back to the twins. "What is the matter with you two?" she demanded. "Scappa is _blind_; she can't see how her hair looks. Besides," she added, sounding annoyed, "you don't make fun of a woman when she has a bad hair day. Saying something like that could very well end with you in a hospital."

"Yeah, right," Hikaru muttered. I hovered beside him, undecided about what I should do. Three girls had threatened him, and he hadn't taken any of them seriously. Deciding quickly, I raised my hand and thumped him in the back of the head. Hard. He yelped and raised his hands to cover the back of his head.

"Don't make fun of girls," I growled, narrowing my eyes at him. He looked shocked. Emotion was a rare display in me, and we had known each other for a long time. I looked to Kaoru to find him backing away from me, his hands up by his head in a gesture of surrender.

"We should get to school," he said nervously, backing straight out the door.

Hunny latched himself onto my leg, grinning madly. "Watch out, Hikaru," he chirped. "Scappa's got herself a protector."

**I know, this chapter is relatively short, but Scappa and Mori's relationship hits off from here, I promise.**


	8. Awkward

Scappa's POV

I tried not to fidget, but I was pretty sure that I was doing a horrible job. I could feel Natanya trembling beside me. We were standing in the Chairman's office, two weeks after we started going to school at Ouran. We'd been called up in the middle of our classes for no reason that we knew about.

"Do you think we're in trouble?" Natanya whispered as the Chairman shuffled through his papers.

"Why else would we be here?" I snapped. "I swear to God, Natanya, I am not taking the blame for something that you did."

Natanya stiffened and was about to say something, but the Chairman interjected smoothly, "Please stop fighting, girls. The two of you are here to approve an idea, not because you're in trouble."

An idea? I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "Why would you need our approval?" Natanya asked, confused.

"I was thinking that some of our students would benefit greatly from a field trip to the hospital where you two girls live," the Chairman said. I heard him lean forward in his creaky chair. "Our students seem to think that they're living in their own little world. I want to show them that there are some things that are more important than themselves."

"So what you're saying," I interrupted, "is that you want to scare them senseless."

The Chairman chuckled. "No," he corrected, "I want them to make a difference."

"We're confused," Natanya stated obviously.

"If our students see how many people there are who are less fortunate than themselves, they might want to help," Chairman explained. "They might feel sorry for the people in the hospital."

Natanya and I tensed. "People in the hospital don't need pity," I snapped. "And, hate to burst your bubble, but how many stuck-up rich teenagers do you think will actually care about people in the hospital? More than likely they'll have nightmares or act disgusted."

"That's where you two come in," Chairman said. "I want you two to lead the tour of the hospital. This is why I need your approval."

A moment of silence. Then Natanya spoke. "Scappa," she ventured, hesitant. "It sounds interesting."

"So did the swine flu," I said dismissively. "Just because it's interesting doesn't mean that it's a good thing."

"Yeah, but we can try to make it a good thing," Natanya urged. "I really want to do this. And just think: we could watch a bunch of rich kids eat hospital cafeteria food!"

And that's how they got me to agree. Three days from today, we were going to give a tour of the hospital. If only God would strike me down with lightning before then.

Mori's POV

"Hey, Mori!" Scappa shouted at the top of her voice, tugging on my sleeve. I winced. Was yelling really necessary? She was standing right next to me.

"What's with the yelling?" I asked, turning to face her.

She shrugged. "Didn't know if you'd be able to hear me up there, Smiley," she said. Then she shook her head impatiently. "Anyways, guess what?"

"What?" I asked cautiously. Hunny was eating cake at our table. It was just before the customers would be arriving.

"In three days, I'll get to watch while you choke down hospital food," she said simply. Then she turned and walked away. Natanya, who was passing by, stifled a giggle. I caught her by the shoulder and turned her around. She put on an innocent expression, but her eyes were gleaming.

"What was she talking about?" I asked.

"In three days, all the students in Ouran are taking a day-long tour of our hospital," she said proudly, "and Scappa and I get to lead the tour. Isn't that great?"

A tour of their hospital. I let Natanya go, and she scampered away to the twins' table. She, Hikaru, and Kaoru were becoming fast friends, just like Scappa, Hunny, and I. Since we dropped them off every afternoon, I already knew the quickest route to their hospital room, plus the parts that they went to regularly, like the nursery and maternity ward (Natanya liked watching the newborns, and Scappa liked talking to the mothers).

"We're about ready to open," Tamaki announced cheerfully. "Everybody at their stations."

I walked slowly to my table, where Scappa was already seated with Hunny. She grinned at me when I sat down. "Excited about the tour? I am. It's an all-day tour of the hospital, which means that you get to meet a whole lot more people than you already do. And you'll get to taste the gourmet cuisine," she added, snickering.

At that moment, the doors opened, and Hunny and I were surrounded by fangirls. "Hi, Hunny-chan," one of them giggled.

"Hi," Hunny chirped. "Have you heard the good news?"

The girls all giggled. "No, what is it?" another girl asked.

"We're going on a tour of Scappa's hospital on Friday," Hunny informed them. "Usa-chan and I are really excited. Scappa and Natanya are going to take us to the nursery again like they did last week."

One of the girls snuck a jealous glance over at Scappa. Then she said, "Tell me, Scappa, who's leading the tour?"

"Natanya and I, of course," she said simply, blinking. "Why?"

"Well, I don't think that _patients_ should be running around the hospital unattended," the girl sneered, fluffing her hair. I tensed. A lot of the students drew conclusions about Natanya and Scappa because they lived in the hospital.

But Scappa just blinked and said, "Well, it's not like we're invalids or anything. The only problem I can think of is that we'll have to take our meds during the tour, but I'm pretty sure they can just attach the needles and tubes to an IV stand and we'll be okay."

The girl paled considerably, and couldn't think of anything to say. Another girl smirked at her and turned to Scappa. "I thought that Natanya was the only one who had to go through chemotherapy," she said, sounding genuinely curious. "I didn't know that both of you had cancer."

Scappa shook her head. "Natanya doesn't really have _cancer _cancer; she just has a tumor in her throat. But we both take meds," she said. "They're experimenting on me to see if I can build up an actual immune system."

"Oh," the girl said. She seemed friendly.

"Um, I need to go talk to Natanya for a moment," Scappa excused herself, standing. "I'll be back in a bit." She walked over to the twins' table and pulled Natanya away. Soon they were talking in low, hushed voices.

"I really don't know how you two can stand her," the first girl sniffed. "She's so…so…"

"Nice?" the second girl suggested.

"And interesting," the third girl added. "I really like her. And she and Mori look so cute together," she said, smiling at me. I nearly choked on my coffee. I stared at the girl in obvious surprise. "Oh, you didn't know?" she asked politely. "I mean, everyone's seen how well you two get along and everything, and we've seen you talk to her. You've never done that with any other girl. I think you two should go out."

The first girl snorted, earning a glare from the second girl. "You and Scappa really do look good together," the second girl said.

I stared at them as they all started fussing over Hunny. When Scappa came back, the two girls gave me knowing smiles, while the first girl stood with a huff and walked over to Tamaki's table. Scappa's brow furrowed. "What did I miss?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing much," the second girl said, while the third girl giggled.

Scappa became much more confused. She turned to me. "Why are they laughing?" she asked. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No," I said, making the girls giggle harder.

Scappa's POV

He would _not_ tell me what the girls thought was so funny.

**YES! Longest chapter EVER! Read it and weep, one thousand three hundred and nine words. Boo-yah!**

**Well, hope ya like it! I put in a little awkward moment just because I felt like picking on Mori. That's the great thing about being an author: you get to be mean to the characters! Anyways, sorry for the late update, but please Read And Review anyhow.**


	9. Rules, Threats, and Hunny

Scappa's POV

The day of the all-day tour dawned bright and clear. Or so I'm told by the evil nurse who woke me up thirty minutes early. She barged into me and Natanya's room and immediately trotted over to the curtains, pulling them open and announcing, "Rise and shine, m'dears! Beautiful day! Remember, the early bird gets the worm!"

"The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese," Natanya mumbled from her bed. Even though I couldn't see her, I knew exactly how she was sleeping: hanging halfway off her bed with her blanket discarded on the floor. I'd known her long enough to know that she fell out of bed every morning when she tried to get out of bed.

"You're a clever thing, aren't you?" the nurse said admiringly. It was obvious that she was new. No nurse who knew us would ever call Natanya 'clever'. 'Canny' and 'evil' and 'mischievous' and 'boy-crazy', but never 'clever'. NEVER 'clever'. "Where did you learn that saying?"

"MySpace," Natanya replied drowsily. "The Website has a Bumper Stickers App."

The nurse cleared her throat uncomfortably and pulled the blanket away from me. It didn't bother me much. The hospital was warm and stuffy during the winter, so a blanket wasn't really necessary. "If you're trying to wake me up, you're doing a bad job," I told her, not opening my eyes.

"You need to wake up, darling," the nurse said gently, putting her hand on my shoulder. I tensed immediately. Not only had she just _touched_ me, she had actually called me 'darling'. Not to mention the fact that she just _FREAKING TOUCHED ME_. I opened my blind eyes and stared blankly at her. She gasped. It just occurred to me that she hadn't known that I was blind. But that didn't mean that I was going to forgive her.

"Don't. Touch. Me," I said, ice dripping from my voice. The nurse moved her hand away from me.

"I-I'll let you two get dressed," she stammered, backing straight out the door.

Natanya groaned and shifted her weight on the bed. She hit the floor with a solid thud. "Who was that lady?" she snapped. "I'd like to hit her on the head with a hammer."

"I'll hold her down," I replied, changing into a pair of jeans and a tank top that Natanya thrust at me. After she changed, I let her brush my hair. Then we stalked outside and waited at the entrance for the busses to arrive with our classmates. I crouched beside the doors while Natanya leaned against the wall. It wasn't long before I heard busses screeching to a stop.

I grinned and snickered. "Let the fun begin…"

Mori's POV

When we got to the hospital—every Ouran student crowded onto two busses—Scappa was crouching beside the entrance, an evil grin on her face. And Natanya was smirking, like she didn't think we'd be able to survive the hospital.

When we were all standing in front of the hospital, Scappa rose up and announced loudly, "Welcome to Tokyo General Hospital. Natanya and I will be hosting the tour, along with a little help from the doctors and nurses who work here. But, first, the rules."

She turned to Natanya, who started before holding up a finger and saying, "Rule Number One: Be respectful to all hospital staff, whether they're nurses, doctors, janitors, or technicians. These are our friends, people, and if you're mean to them, we'll be mean to you."

Scappa interrupted quickly. "Rule Number Two: Do _not_ touch any hospital equipment. I find out that you've been screwing up possibly life-saving equipment and you'll regret the day you were born. I'm talking to you two, Hikaru and Kaoru," she added firmly. "_Hands off_."

"Rule Number Three: If you don't eat the hospital food, you won't eat," Natanya declared. "Simple as that."

"Rule Number Four: There will be no leaving hospital grounds at _any time_ during the day unless you are accompanied by at least two adults, be they hospital staff or teachers. And stay with us," Scappa added. "Hikaru, Kaoru, I find out that you snuck off at any point and you'll soon be taking a tour of the Emergency Room on a more personal level. Got that?"

"Yep!" they declared in unison, flashing her a thumbs up. "We read ya loud and clear."

Scappa nodded, satisfied, and turned to Natanya, who immediately said, "First we'll be taking a tour of all ground-level wards, which means the Emergency Room, the waiting room, and the first floor nurses' station."

"But be warned that not all nurses are nice," Scappa warned. "So don't upset them before they've had their morning coffee." As we all walked into the hospital, Scappa fell back until she was standing directly beside me. She turned her head towards him and grinned. "Ready for the scariest day of your life?" she asked cheerfully.

I smiled back at her, listening to the gasps of shock as I did. But I didn't reply. She playfully punched me on the arm before speeding up to walk beside Natanya.

Hunny's POV

Takashi and Scapp-chan were going to go out. Usa-chan and I were going to make sure of it. I had been thinking for a while about the best way to get Takashi to ask Scapp-chan out on a date, and what better way than on a field trip to the hospital where she lived? I watched closely as Scapp-chan grinned at Takashi and asked, "Ready for the scariest day of your life?" Takashi smiled at her, his eyes turning soft and gentle when he looked at her. I sighed. He was in love with her, that much was for sure.

_And soon he'll ask her on a date_, I reminded myself firmly, giggling. Takashi looked at me, but I just walked into the hospital on Scapp-chan's heels. This was going to be fun.

**Ah, cliffhanger! Mwa ha ha! I don't know what Hunny is going to do yet, but it's gonna be great—and slightly awkward, because, as I've been told, that is my trademark. Please Read and Review!**


	10. Natanya's Threat, Hunny's Impatience

**I have something very important to say to one of my newest reviewers: Shi-chan, you seriously need to cut back on the sugar, cuz you are bouncing off the walls, my friend. No offense.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran (sad, right?)

Scappa's POV

I was deadly surprised. It had been almost an hour, and the Hitachiin twins hadn't caused one bit of trouble. Neither had any of the other rich kids. We were entering the Cancer Ward, and as soon as we did, some of them gasped. I felt Mori's arm brush against my side protectively, and I snorted, brushing him off. I wasn't a baby. I didn't exactly need help. Besides, I had something to do here. We were right in the kids' playroom, so I muttered to Natanya, "Take care of them. I've got business here."

Natanya nodded and cheerfully announced, "Scappa has to take her morning meds, so it's just gonna be us for a while. Get gone, girl."

I obligingly slipped out the door and padded down the hall, running my fingers down the Braille numbers on the door. When I reached Room 16, I opened the door and stuck my head inside. I whistled sharply. "Hey, Kyoko," I called. "You somewhere in here?"

"Hi, Scappa," a simple, childish voice said. I grinned and walked over to the Kyoko's bedside. She was a little girl I had met a little over a month ago. Pancreatic cancer.

"Hey, girly girl," I said, plopping myself down on the bed beside her. "What's happening? Read any good books lately?"

"Mammy read me _Alice in Wonderland_," Kyoko informed me solemnly. "It's a good story."

"The movie is good, too." I rolled onto my side to fix her with a vacant gaze. "Are the doctors and nurses treating you alright, kid? No mean ones, right?"

"They're OK," Kyoko said timidly.

"Your Mammy okay?" I felt Kyoko nod. "Papie?" Another nod. "Brother?"

"Yep," Kyoko chirped. "Mammy told me that you're giving a tour of the hospital. Can I meet your friends?"

"Do you want to?" Kyoko nodded vigorously. I sighed as I stood and hefted the six-year-old onto my hip. "Then I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" I asked as I waltzed out of her room towards the playroom, where Natanya was encouraging the rich kids to get social with the cancer patients.

"Hey, Kyo," she exclaimed when she saw us. "How goes it?"

"Good," Kyoko said timidly. She was slightly scared of loud Natanya. She hugged my neck tightly and surveyed the room, never letting go. Kyoko wasn't really the social type. She preferred to admire things from afar as to immersing herself in them. "Who's he?" she whispered in my ear, pointing.

At that moment, I felt Mori's hand touch my sleeve. "This is Smiley," I cheerfully announced. "He's a great big teddy bear. He's one of my friends. And he really likes small people," I added, grinning. Kyoko giggled into my hair, hiding behind my head. "But he doesn't talk too much, so you have to talk really loud to get his attention. HEY-HO, SMILEY!" I added in a much louder voice. "HOW'S THE WEATHER UP THERE?"

I felt a very strong feeling pulsing out from him in waves, but I wasn't sure what it was. Annoyance? Probably. Disapproval? Most likely. Irritation? Yep. That was it, I was sure. But it was just impossible to act normal with a six-year-old on your hip. I smiled impishly up at Mori, hoping to ease the tension. But the feeling coming from him just became stronger. I frowned and looked away, going to sit next to Tamaki with Kyoko on my lap. What was wrong with Mori?

Natanya's POV

Mori had the softest look in his eyes when he looked at her. I had been noticing the way he treated her the whole two weeks that he had known her. He was especially gentle with her, almost in the same way that he treated Hunny, only different. I'd had enough boyfriends to know when someone was in love. I sidled up to him and said quietly, "If you don't tell her how you feel, she'll never figure it out. She's hardheaded like that."

Mori gave me a sidelong glance, as though wondering how I knew. I giggled. "I know all about this stuff," I said slyly. "I'm sensitive like that." My voice became stern. "You should have asked her out ages ago. Hunny and I—"

"_Hunny_?" Mori interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, he's noticed, too," I said defensively, raising my hands in front of me in a gesture of surrender. "And trust me, he's one devious little third year. If you don't do something, he will." And then I flounced away, leaving him to think about my threat. He would probably ignore it—after all, I _am _Natanya Smith. And he _is_ Morinozuko Takashi. But what I said was true: either Mori would do something about his feelings for Scappa, or Hunny would do something about Mori's feelings for Scappa. And if I were him, I would hurry up and make the decision. Hunny was very impatient, and, in reality, so was I.

Mori's POV

_And so the plot thickens_, I thought darkly, watching Natanya prance away from me to sit next to Scappa and the little girl named Kyoko. Scappa's blonde hair was loose around her shoulders, and her green eyes were as pretty as ever. She was listening intently to something that Kyoko was telling her about a boat and a cat. I turned to survey the playroom. The Ouran kids were either playing with little kids or trying to have awkward conversations with teenagers either older or younger than themselves.

Hikaru and Kaoru were coaxing a group of thirteen-year-olds to play the "Which One Is Hikaru Game", while Tamaki was busily wooing a group of young girls, who blushed fiercely and stammered replies to his gentle questions. Hunny was letting a group of small children hold his Usa-chan. Haruhi sat beside a boy and a girl who would be in the same grade as her if they went to Ouran. Kyouya was separated from the children, standing in a corner by himself and watching everything with keen eyes. In other words, everything was normal. But when I looked to Hunny again, I saw him watching me shrewdly. When he saw me looking, he smiled happily and turned back to the children and his Usa-chan.

One of the children vomited and started wailing at the top of his voice. Natanya slid down to comfort him, while Scappa gently set Kyoko down and walked over to me. "Come on," she sighed. "Better go to the supply closet and get the stuff to clean it up. Otherwise the nurses will never let us back inside the playroom."

I followed her as she strode down the hall, arms swinging at her sides. Her tank top was violet, I noticed. I decided that it was one of my favorite colors as we reached the supply closet. Scappa opened the door and walked inside, stretching up on her tiptoes to try and reach a bunch of disinfectant spray on the top shelf. "Mori," she whined, giving up. "Help me, please."

I sighed and walked into the supply closet with her. She moved back to give me room as I easily plucked the spray off the shelf and handed it to her. She smiled, only to frown when the door slammed shut. I heard loud giggles and the sound of a key turning in a lock.

Everything was silent. It was cramped in the supply closet. Finally, Scappa said nervously, "…I think Hunny just locked us inside."

**Once again, being mean to my characters. I'm so evil. Please Read and Review.**


	11. Closets, Panic Attacks, and High Fevers

CH. 11

Scappa's POV

It felt like there was a knot in my stomach, a knot that kept tightening and tightening with every second that passed that we were in the closet. I could feel a cold sweat on my forehead, and I knew I was trembling. Natanya was nearly as panicked as I was, jiggling the doorknob, kicking at the door in frustration. "Damn it straight to hell!" I heard her snarl.

"Tanya?" I asked anxiously, pressing my ear to the door. "What happening out there?"

"Someone fetch the goddamn janitor to open the door!" Natanya snapped at someone. I heard several people run off quickly.

"Natanya, what's up?"

"I'm sorry, Scappa," she said tensely. "But someone's locked the door, and Teddy's the only one with a key."

Teddy was our favorite janitor. He was always nice to us and brought us things to entertain us with when he visited. I could feel Mori's warmth behind me, hovering worriedly. "Are you all right, Scappa?" he asked quietly.

_No_, I thought, squeezing my eyes shut. _No, I'm absolutely not all right. I'm scared. I'm in a cage and I can't get out._ My stomach heaved at the thought. "I'm gonna be sick," I muttered through clenched teeth.

"Mori, make her sit down!" Natanya commanded harshly. "Get her to go to sleep before she has a panic attack!"

"Panic attack?" Mori echoed. His arms snaked around my waist, pulling me close to his chest.

"She's claustrophobic." Natanya's voice was weak now. "I've got to go help find Teddy. Make her go to sleep! Otherwise she'll get sick!"

It was a moment before Mori responded; then he sat down slowly, carefully cradling me on his lap. He rested his cheek on the top of my head and brought his knees up so that I felt like was in a very soft, very warm cocoon. "Go to sleep," he kept repeating. "Go to sleep, go to sleep."

I burrowed my face into the side of his neck like I did with Natanya when I was having a panic attack. His other hand rubbed my back soothingly, and it was only a few moments before I began to drop off. The last thing I heard before I passed out was Mori murmuring, "Go to sleep, sweetness."

Mori's POV

Scappa was really warm. _Really_ warm. Warmer than she was supposed to be. And she was shivering. I didn't know how her forehead could be so warm while she felt cold. I yanked a blanket off the shelf and draped it over us. Her warm breath feathered along my neck, and I tightened my grip on her. _Please be okay_, I begged silently. _Please, _please_ be okay, Scappa._

She'd told me on her first day that she had no immune system, that she could get placed in the ICU for something that would barely slow anyone else down. And, call me weird, but I'd Googled her condition, too, and found that she could get seriously ill from high stress levels and intense fear. It seemed like that's what was happening, and I fiercely wished that it didn't. Scappa was _mine_, and no medical condition was going to drag her away from me.

**Yay, finally done! I finally finished this chapter. At first, I didn't want to make it too fluffy, but then I just said Screw It and made it as fluffy as I wanted it to be.**

P.S.: To ..x and her friend Vix, your chapter is a-comin'. *Big Grins*

Read and Review!


	12. Intensive Care In More Ways Than One

Ch. 11

Mori's POV

It must have been three days since I'd last slept in a bed. My nights were spent at the hospital, sitting with Scappa in the Intensive Care Unit. Natanya wasn't allowed inside because of the tumor in her throat, and Scappa didn't have any family living in Japan. Her only relatives were a few cousins she barely knew in America who didn't have the money to fly to Japan. I learned all this by sitting in Scappa's room, eavesdropping on the nurses as they walked past her room. It must have been three days since I'd last slept in a bed, and in all three of those days, Scappa had woken up just once. That one time, she hadn't known where she was. She hadn't spoke in Japanese; she'd spoken in English. And almost as soon as she'd woken up, she'd passed out again.

I only left to eat, drink, and go to the bathroom, and every time I left, I made sure another member of the Host Club was there with her. She was never left alone. Mitsukuni stayed most of the time, too. Thanks to him, she was holding a furry blue stuffed monkey against her chest as she…slept. I studied her face. She looked paler than she normally did, with black circles under her eyes. Her breath came in shuddering bursts, and she fidgeted in her sleep. On the first day, I would have thought she was waking up, but by the second I knew better.

And then, on the fourth day, she woke up again. It happened so gradually that at first I thought it was just her sleep-fidgets, but then her green eyes, clouded with sickness, squinted in my general direction. "Hey, Smiley," she mumbled. I was up and at her bedside in three seconds flat. I took her hand anxiously in both of mine anxiously.

"How do you feel?" I asked. My voice sounded cracked and hoarse.

"Trippy as hell," Scappa replied, putting the palm of her free hand on her forehead and staring confusedly at the ceiling. Then she turned back to me, brow furrowed. "Your voice sounds weird," she commented, reaching her hand up until it found my face. I leaned down so she could reach me better and closed my eyes. Her fingers moved all around my face, stopping at my forehead. She smoothed out the worried lines there, holding my brow smooth. I gave her a cracked smile, and she frowned. "You aren't saying anything," she complained. I caught her wrist and pulled her fingers down to the corners of my mouth. She felt the smile there and relaxed, blinking slowly. "Where am I?" she asked.

"ICU," I replied, not moving her fingers from my lips. Her blunt fingernails tickled. "You slept for three days."

She nodded slowly. "Kinda figures, don't it?" she murmured to herself. In a louder voice, she added, "I had the weirdest dream while I was out. It—" she looked at the blue monkey in confusion and pulled her hand away from my face. I let it go reluctantly, watching as she ran her fingers through its fur. "The hell is this?" she demanded.

"Mitsukuni got it for you from the gift shop," I answered. "It's a blue monkey with green eyes."

A wide grin spread over her face. "Hunny's awesome," she remarked. Then she glanced at my face and smiled. "And so are you. How long has it been since you slept?" She tucked the monkey against her side and raised her hand to my face again. She caressed the skin under my eyes, feeling the bags there.

I smiled and traced the bags under her eyes, too. "We match," I said, at least a little amusement coloring my voice. She smiled, too. That was when I realized that I was still holding Scappa's hand. I uncurled my hand from around hers, giving her the option to let go.

She curled her fingers more tightly around my hand and rolled onto her side, closing her eyes. "You have to stay until I fall asleep," she murmured, clutching my hand. "I'll throw a fit if you don't," she added in warning.

"Okay," I said, and nodded.

"Swear it," she persisted stubbornly.

I nodded solemnly. "I swear on my life that I'll stay until you fall asleep and be here when you wake up," I vowed.

Scappa smiled. She was half-asleep by now. "Thanks, Smiley," she murmured. "I don't doubt you."

**Yay! Finally! I'm so sorry to keep you waiting! Please Read and Review!**


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